Gotta Serve Somebody
“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14–15 Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel is one of the more well known lines of scripture. We often let the familiar pass us by...
Read MoreIf God Did Not Go With You
“Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Exodus 33:15–17 God told Moses that he would deliver the people of God to the Promised Land as he had promised — but he would not go with them. Moses responded quickly and clearly,...
Read MoreAre You Really Free?
“We know that ‘An idol is nothing at all in the world’ and that ‘There is no God but one.'”1 Corinthians 8:4 How do you react when a good thing is jeopardized, blocked or taken away? The answer to that question — not in general but in the specifics of your life — will unveil the things that have more power over you than you want them to, the things that actually take the place of God, your functional saviors, the idols in your life. Think of a good thing in your life? It could be anything. Start with answering: “what is most important to me in my life?” (you...
Read MoreTwo Strands of a Full Life
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28–31 Jesus captures the heart of the 10 Commandments. They are not meant to be simply...
Read MoreYour Life of Confident, Relaxed, Peace (seriously, your life)
“Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” Exodus 17:5–7 The people of God thirsted and God provided. In between they grumbled, complained and questioned weather or...
Read MoreAll You’ll Ever Need
The LORD said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’ That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. Exodus 16:11–15 I...
Read MoreA Movement of People That Changes The World
When the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. Ex. 14:31 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 God does not call people to a religion but to a movement. When you look at scripture, you see a movement. You see the formation of a tribe, God is not merely drawing the people he created to himself, but to each other. One one of...
Read MoreBe Careful So You Can Be Fearless
Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9 Being careful is not the biggest challenge for churches these days, not by a long shot. Being careful comes naturally to church folks. Fearlessness, however, not being risk averse, being willing to step out in trust — these are the things qualities that God calls for in us. God rarely calls us to careful, he calls us to courage. I think each of us could benefit from...
Read MoreA Theology As Big As The City
In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26–28 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility . . . . Ephesians 2:13–14 The world is going to hell in a hand-basket; war, strife,...
Read MoreBelong – Believe – Behave
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:33–36 The Apostle Paul gets a bad rap these days. I talk with people who read the Bible and tell me they read the Gospels, but not the letters that Paul wrote to first century churches. “I stick to the story of Jesus not the other stuff; Paul...
Read More